


Playing in the dark (or near)

by wanderingalonelypath



Series: Fair Game Week 2020 [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: First Date, M/M, Mentions of all the kids - Freeform, Qrow is best uncle, The kids are nosy because of course they are, tiny little cameo of Ren and Blake for espionage purposes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:41:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23187940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderingalonelypath/pseuds/wanderingalonelypath
Summary: When Clover asked Qrow out (finally, some unnamed annoyances might say) he knew immediately that it would go wrong.But for once, it wasn’t Qrow’s fault at all. No, the blame laid entirely, and he says this with love, on his nosy, meddling nieces and nephews.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: Fair Game Week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665913
Comments: 11
Kudos: 68





	Playing in the dark (or near)

When Clover asked Qrow out (finally, some unnamed annoyances might say) he knew immediately that it would go wrong. 

But for once, it wasn’t Qrow’s fault at all. No, the blame laid entirely, and he says this with love, on his nosy, meddling nieces and nephews.

He didn’t tell any of the kids about his impending date. Some of the reason was nerves; he didn’t need any more reason to be flustered and worried about what to wear than his unfairly attractive and confident date. The other reason was that he knew how involved they would all try to get if they knew.

Yang would waste no time in congratulating him and wiggling her eyebrows, making some sort of euphemism of them getting lucky tonight. Ruby would be ecstatic and shiny-eyed, wanting to know all the details of how it happened and what led up to it. Weiss would be overprotective, all narrowed eyes and icy voice as she tried to suss out whether or not Clover was good enough for her uncle. Jaune would act the same as Ruby but would ask if he was actually going to date Clover, and little things about his personality and why Qrow was interested in him. Nora would threaten to break his legs if he broke Qrow’s heart, Oscar would sheepishly rub the back of his head and apologize for not being able to give him Oz-advice, and Ren and Blake would smile fondly and shake their heads at their teammates, but Qrow had no doubt in his mind that they would do a deep-dive for info on Clover and possibly stalk him to determine if he had good intentions.

He loved his kids, he really did, but they could be a bit overbearing. And if the Ace Ops found out as well? He and Clover would never find any peace.

So he didn’t tell them. Any of them. That begs the question, of course, how ALL of them found out anyway.

Clover agreed not to breathe a word of their night out either, and they both had iron-clad excuses for their absence the night of. They even left the Academy separately, not coming together until they were a few miles from their restaurant of choice in Mantle, where they walked hand-in-hand, quickly barreling through the meaningless first date talk that they had already exhausted since being partnered up.

Clover was in the middle of asking if he would rather ride a Nevermore or the top of an Atlas airship when Qrow noticed something amiss. The street they were walking on wasn’t deserted by any means, but there weren’t as many people as usual since it was nearly night and the temperature was dropping. So it wasn’t too hard to spot the young duo walking on the opposite side of the street.

Qrow had to give them credit, they picked the most non-assuming of the group to send out in the open. Blake and Ren were the least likely to draw attention and were the easiest to blend into a crowd of civilians, especially sans-battle gear. They strolled casually down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand and chatting quietly, To anyone but Qrow, they just looked like a couple of sweethearts on a date. He wasn’t sure if he should be impressed with their forethought and skill or exasperated with their spying.

He picked exasperated.

Qrow let out a slow sigh, not wanting to alert the kids to him noticing them but not being able to help himself. Clover noticed with a small frown, tugging him to a stop at the mouth of an alleyway. “Are you alright?” He asked but Qrow was already resting a hand on his shoulder in reassurance.

“I’m fine, boy scout. More than fine, this is…amazing.” Clover gave him that soft little smile that was probably one of Qrow’s favorite sights in the world. “But it looks like the kids got wind of us going out tonight.” He gave a minute jerk of his chin over Clover’s shoulder. The Ace Op gave a small chuckle as if he expected this to happen (Qrow wouldn’t be surprised if he did). “They’ll probably follow us to the restaurant, or at least camp out across the street from it.” He sighed again.

He expected to feel more annoyed than he actually did, but mostly he just felt fond. It had been a long time since anyone other than the girls and Tai had cared this much about him and his happiness. For a long time, they were the only three people in the world he actually gave a damn about, including himself. But suddenly instead of two nieces, he had eight nieces and nephews that he loved fiercely, and who, apparently, loved him just as much. It was still an adjustment, but he’d do anything for his kids, and it touched him that they would do the same.

Clover was looking at him with a glint in his eyes, though, and Qrow was suddenly hit with such a surge of affection for the man in front of him that it nearly drove him to his knees. Despite how chilly the Mantle air around them was, thinking about those kids, his family, and Clover in front of him had him feeling warm enough for a full-blown grin to sneak onto his face.

Clover returned it, a bit confused but happy to see him happy, and followed him willingly as he pulled him deeper into the alley behind them. “Qrow-” He gave a delighted laugh as Qrow let go of his hand and did a smooth leap to the roof in front of them. Qrow peered over his shoulder, tossing him a smirk. 

“Screw the candlelit dinner.” He said. “Let’s have some fun.” And he took off, sprinting and leaping across the Mantle skyline. He heard Clover’s disbelieving laugh behind him, but when he looked over his shoulder his boy scout was already catching up to him. Qrow didn’t know if the kids were gonna follow them, and he didn’t really care.

And if he and Clover decided to go back to Clover’s apartment and cuddle under a blanket while watching trashy romcoms after only an hour of rooftop jumping, well, the kids didn’t need to know that part.

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2, with much love for Uncle Qrow!!


End file.
